Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Words have actual definitions. Today, however, too many people ascribe meanings to words because of ignorance or emotional content.

One DC councilman, in years past, was reprimanded because he used the word "niggardly," meaning cheap, miserly. Of course, the overly sensitive ignoramus that objected to that word thought he was using another similar word. AND DID NOT CARE when the difference was explained. "He should have known better" was the response.

Discrimination is another favorite word of the permanently offended. "One should never discriminate," we are told. Of course, it only means "to choose." One cannot help but discriminate based upon many reasons.

And now the word Rogue is being used. As in "Israel is a ROGUE state." Well, yes it is. And this gentleman, Gabriel Latner, proves it in a brilliant argument in a Cambridge Union Society Debate.snip

I'm going to try and convince the die-hard Zionists and Israel supporters here tonight, to vote for the proposition. By the end of my speech – I will have presented 5 pro-Israel arguments that show Israel is, if not a 'rogue state' than at least 'rogueish'.

Let me be clear. I will not be arguing that Israel is 'bad'. I will not be arguing that it doesn't deserve to exist. I won't be arguing that it behaves worse than every other country. I will only be arguing that Israel is 'rogue'.

The word 'rogue' has come to have exceptionally damning connotations. But the word itself is value-neutral. The OED defines rogue as 'Aberrant, anomalous; misplaced, occurring (esp. in isolation) at an unexpected place or time ', while a dictionary from a far greater institution gives this definition 'behaving in ways that are not expected or not normal, often in a destructive way '. These definitions, and others, centre on the idea of anomaly – the unexpected or uncommon. Using this definition, a rogue state is one that acts in an unexpected, uncommon or aberrant manner. A state that behaves exactly like Israel.

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